Any Kind of Affection
by RadioSlug
Summary: It was as if the whole world had ceased spinning. Oneshot, Fluff, Shizaya, mostly drabble. Rated T for language


"I'm telling you, Shizuo, if Izaya got any kind of sign of affection, he would calm down considerably." Tom said offhandedly. He and Shizuo had just gotten off work and decided to go grab a bite to eat at Russia Sushi. Idle chitchat was made between the two men as they stuffed their faces. But then Namie had walked into the store, ordering copious amounts of Ootoro for her boss, she ended up leaving with both her arms weighed down with the stuff, which led the two to start talking about the tuna-loving informant. They had come to a conclusion that the reason why Izaya was so messed up was that he had never had any form of affection shown towards him. "Think about it, you went to highschool with him. Did he ever have a girlfriend or boyfriend or anything?"

"Huh. I guess not." Shizuo said, taking a big bite of sushi that was drenched in sweet sauce. "But what about family? He said he had a perfectly normal family, which would mean lots of love."

"But if he had never encountered anybody else's family, like meeting a girlfriend or friend's family, he would never know his family was anything but normal, so..." Tom replied from behind a mouthful of sushi.

"I never thought of it that way. It makes me kind of feel sorry for the Flea." Shizuo looked down at his remaining sushi. There were only three pieces left, among them was a piece of Ootoro. He picked the fatty tuna up with his fingers and broke it in half before shoving one half into his mouth.

"Hey Shizuo, you know what I think you should do?" Tom asked Shizuo, a mischievous glint in his eye. Shizuo eyed his employer suspiciously as he shoved the other half of the sushi into his mouth. "You should show Izaya some affection! You know, to see if it makes him calm down."

Shizuo nearly choked on the fish in his mouth. "What the hell?! No way!" He exclaimed. He stood abruptly from the table. Tom got up and ran after him.

"Ah! Wait, Shizuo, hear me out!" He grabbed Shizuo's arm, to which the bleached blonde turned around; seething. If Tom was any other man, he knew he would've already been thrown halfway to Shinjuku for doing that. But Tom being Tom, he continued. "I'm not talking about you kissing him or sexing him up or anything like that. Maybe just a hug and a few nice words would work."

Shizuo was still not biting. "Yeah...no. I'm not going to touch that filthy louse, let alone hug him!"

"You can do it on your own or I can fire you for not making a safe environment for me. Because you know Izaya is a danger to everyone, including me." Tom said, grinning. Shizuo groaned, Tom had him there. And he was almost positive that he wouldn't find anyone else that would be willing to hire him, knowing about his monster strength. "And look at it this way, if you hug him and he tries any funny business, you can always snap his spine!"

"Well...I guess so..." Shizuo halfheartedly agreed, liking the fact that he would be able to snap Izaya's spine but disliking the fact that he had to touch the informant. "But if I get rabies or any other kind of disease from him, I'm suing you."

Tom laughed at that. "I take full liability for your health, Shizuo." With that, they paid for their meal and began plotting.

~~

The sun was just setting as Shizuo stood outside a musty old club. He was in the bad part of town and it made him uneasy. But he knew Izaya was common in this particular club, he had overheard some gangsters talking about how Izaya was there 'nearly every other night to collect dirt on people.' If Shizuo's intuition was right, Izaya would be here any minute.

Speak of the devil.

Izaya had just rounded a corner, looking sneaky as always. But when he saw Shizuo, he casually did a 180 on his heels, as casually as you can do a 180 on your heels anyway, and headed back the way he came. Shizuo started after him right away.

"Izaya! Stop! I just want to talk, I promise!" Shizuo yelled after him, almost literally gagging on the words that were coming out of his mouth.

"Silly Shizu-chan, I'm not stupid, you know!" Izaya yelled over his shoulder. "You think I'm stupid enough to stop and 'talk' with you?" He was now running from Shizuo, who was trying his very hardest to not throw a vending machine at the flea. No, that would get him nowhere. He had to stay calm.

"Damnit..." Shizuo grumbled. He sped up trying to gain on the flea, but every time he was within grabbing distance of Izaya, the informant would bounce away. He sucked in a big breath and started to run as fast as he had ever ran before.

Finally, the flea seemed like he was wearing down and slowing. Shizuo extended his arm as he caught up to Izaya, landing a tight hand on his shoulder and stopping abruptly, making the informant lose balance from the sudden halt.

Shizuo spun Izaya around quickly and, before the Izaya could say anything, enveloped him in a tight hug.

"Shizu-chan, what are you doing?" Izaya asked, his voice muffled by Shizuo's chest. The brute's warmth sent goose-bumps up and down his back. He had never felt like this before. It was as if the whole world had ceased spinning. He didn't know what to. He _hated_ not knowing what to do.

"What does it look like, louse? I'm _hugging_ you." Shizuo said. This wasn't so bad. It actually felt kind of...nice.

"I know that. But _why_?" Izaya's voice cracked, he tried his hardest to mask his voice with faux disgust.

"It just seems like...you needed a hug." By this time, every person around them were just staring at them. There was such a big, tight ring around them, it seemed like all of Tokyo was in attendance to the twilight zone-esque moment.

"Don't...don't be ridiculous, protozoan. I don't need..." Izaya's face had gone extremely red and his carmine eyes were wide with shock. His chest felt tight. Suddenly, there were tears threatening his eyes. "I don't...need anyone." The tears started to spill, rolling down Izaya's face and soaking into Shizuo's dress shirt. Izaya finally wrapped his arms around Shizuo and gripped the brute's shirt tightly.

"It's okay...I know why you're fucked up. It's not your fault." Shizuo said into the top of Izaya's head. He could feel the cool tears soak into his shirt and the shaking the other's shoulders were doing with every sputtering exhale of breath.

"I'm a monster." Izaya sobbed out into Shizuo's shirt. "I hate it, but I can't stop..."

"It's not your fault," Shizuo repeated. Seeing the informant like this, so vulnerable, so harmless-looking, made him not want to let him go. "I forgive you."

And that was it. Those three words were what cracked Izaya's sadistic facade, revealing the raw, scared, lonely inside that he tried so hard to hide from the world. "I don't want to be alone...don't leave me alone."

"I won't leave you. It's okay." Shizuo started petting Izaya's hair comfortingly. They stood there, in the middle of the street, just hugging. They seemed to be unaware of the crowd that was still around them, watching the bizarre display with mixed emotions; confusion, relief, happiness...it was as if only each other existed in their own little world they had created with arms and bodies.

...and somewhere, Erika had a heart attack.  
~*~End~*~

Fluffiness for you guys! ^u^

Eh, in the beginning I tried to not make Tom seem like he was trying to Shizuo and Izaya together. Rather him trying to solve a problem. But...I think I failed, I made him look like a Shizaya fangirl. OTL

The Tom thing is really the only qualm I have with this story, as far as I know. (but that'll probably change once I publish it and reread it and find all the friggen mistakes =A= )


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